Lottery brings helping hand for deaf community in Leicester
New opportunities are set to blossom for hard-to-reach deaf people and their families in Leicester, following a cash injection of £243,900 from the Big Lottery Fund (BIG).
The HearNow project is celebrating news of a grant from BIG’s Reaching Communities programme, which aims to help those most in need and build stronger communities.
Led by Action Deafness, the scheme will work specifically with deaf Black Afro-Caribbean, Black African and Asian people across the city. Working in partnership with the Shama Women's Centre, the group aim to ensure that every deaf person within this community – whether a child, young person, adult or older person – is able to access education, local authority and community services, find employment and be active members of Leicester’s vibrant society.
Project workers will support deaf people on a one-to-one basis, assessing their needs and providing advice on issues such as hearing aids, how to manage hearing loss and applying for disability benefits.
Action Deafness will also offer British Sign Language courses to family, friends and colleagues of beneficiaries, hold deaf awareness workshops for employers, and develop a network of 90 deaf ambassadors, who will act as advocates, role models and peer supports across the city.
